The Art of Searching [Finished]

[Dark]

Hadyn looked around, vaguely curious how much the rarer books from such an impressive private library might be fenced for, but otherwise unmoved by the show of prestige. He'd never enjoyed reading--partially because he could never sit still long enough to actually ever finish anything, and also because the plots were often just so contrived that he had to toast the book for spite. He continued moving.

There were two doors leading to and from the library. The main door was double-sided, ornately carved and set with ancient brass. The stain glass above it spanned almost to the ceiling, a great steepled thing depicting a knight and a maiden frozen in eternal chase. The second, much less opulent door, was a narrow through-way between two crooked bookshelves. Hadyn choose that one.

The hinges were well oiled, and he slipped through almost silently into the servant hall.

[Bee]

The servants' quarters were dark and simple, but by no means lacking. The only strange thing about them seemed to be that there were no servants roaming about. Or anywhere else in the house, really. It seemed uniformly vacant. The beds in the rooms were neat, the surfaces were dusted, and everything looked entirely un-lived-in. Perhaps there was a subset of servants who tiedied up after the normal set of servants?

Little time to contemplate that, however. A faint sound made its way to Ezra's ears, a soft, dark, soothing melody. He could vaguely tell from which direction it eminated. And it was the first real sign of life they had encountered upon entering this strange abode. Ezra was not sure whether they should follow the sound, and be confronted with an actual person, or continue to try committing a proper robbery. He looked to Freakshow.

"Should we investigate?"

[Kiki]

Bee and Dark receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[Dark]

They followed the haunting melody through a series of twisting hallways, eventually slipping through an archway carefully hidden away behind a tapestry. Hadyn noted with no small amount of surprise and dismay that they were almost back where they had started.

They were careful to watch where they stepped this time.

As they crept down the hallway the music seemed to swell and finally crescendo, eerie notes that almost hung, palatable, in the air.

They entered what could only be a music room; the lyre was seated in the middle of the room, a truly beautiful instrument. Honey-colored wood gleaming from meticulous attention, spiraling and sweeping, and gilded with a faintly delicate pattern.

There wasn't anyone playing it. The strings vibrated from the delicate manipulation of some unseen force. Hadyn felt his fur stick straight up.

An enchanted lyre was fun in theory--and would probably fetch a rather handsome price--but it was damn freaky. He quirked a brow at his partner.

[Bee]

Ezra had only known one person capable of enchanting instruments, when he was in the business--a young bipedal chipmunk-girl from the Villa en Miir who could make her flute play of its own accord while she sang. But only for short amounts of time. And never when she wasn't very close to the flute.

He supposed that there had to be a person nearby, in which case their situation was dire, or the person was well away and was in possession of very powerful magic, in which case they were doomed.

The instrument he approached cautiously. The entire house appeared charmed completely to the teeth, so it was likely that this self-playing lyre had more magical additions. The notes changed as he stepped toward it, forming a different kind of pattern that was no longer a song, but rather more like a voice.

Welcome.

[Dark]

Haydn experienced something very similar to someone running a paw through his fur backwards--never a very pleasurable experience, and always cause for a full-body shudder. It took a very concentrated effort to shrug his fur back into some semblance of order.

State your purpose.

He considered their predicament and found himself wondering how an enchanted lyre might react to a so-far-failed attempt at burglary. And then, much to his horror, found himself talking; it was worse, knowing that there probably wasn't any kind of compulsion behind the lyre's "words"; it was just nerves.

"We're attempting to liberate certain items of value from the premise in an attempt to discover a deeper meaning to life and possibly make a large sum of money."

The long pause was stifling, and then:

Thank GOD. I thought I'd never get out of this dump. Well, go on. Get on with it, before he catches you. I'd rather not sit here rotting for another twenty years if I can help it.

Hadyn's mouth gapped in disbelief.

My name is Cycil, by the way.

[Bee]

It took a few seconds and much blank staring for two concepts to dawn on Ezra: first of all, that the lyre appeared to be completely sentient; secondly, that it apparently wanted them to kidnap it.

He shrugged. They wanted to commit a robbery, after all. If the items they were to take actually wanted to be taken, then so much the better for them. Granted, it took out a bit of the adventure, but the fact that the lyre actually spoke made up for the fact that it wished to be taken captive. Though he didn't like the idea of this lyre's owner.

"If that's your wish, we'll find you a new home," Ezra said.

Ah, thank you! said Cycil gratefully. I am most indebted to the two of you for your assistence. Now, lift me up.

Ezra glanced at Hadyn, and moved warily toward the lyre.

[Dark]

After Hadyn got over the initial shock, he couldn't help but feel horribly suspicious of the entire situation. Whatever kind of magic had been used to enchant the lyre was extremely powerful, and that kind of power usually had severe consequences.

He stalled Esmeralda's forward movement with a quick paw, eying the lyre critically.

"Why, exactly, do you want to leave?"

A prolonged silence, and then, Because this dusty old room is exceeding dull; that's why.

Hadyn looked around, taking in the dusty piano, the cello with the broken bow, and the mantle clock with the chipped face. What little light that had filtered through the heavy drapes was heavy and thick. The flowers on the table were dried and withered.

He quirked a brow and found himself nodding, "Yeah, I suppose I can see that."

Can you indeed.

Ah, sarcasm. Something Hadyn could do without.

[Bee]

Ezra was beginning to not like the way the lyre was talking. There was a sort of desperate calculation behind its words, and he questioned its reasoning for wanting to get out of the room. Ezra thought it was quite pleasant, generally speaking. The dead flowers were a nice touch. He wondered if the owner of the place was a poet.

Nevertheless, Freakshow seemed to understand, and Ezra thought that the boy was probably better at picking up cues than Ezra was. So he made another slow, cautious move to the lyre.

His paw was less than an inch away from the instrument when a booming voice filled the room: "Do not touch that."

Ezra jerked his paw away immediately. You didn't disobey a voice like that. You turned and listened to it. So Ezra did.

Little old man, but he looked impossibly sturdy, somehow youthful. He walked toward them.

[Dark]

As a rule, Hadyn didn't like being told what to do. He took a step towards the man, shoulders lowered and claws extended.

"Stop right there. Who are you?"

The old man stopped obligingly, raising his hands a little bit in compliance. It didn't make Hadyn feel any more secure about their situation. He glanced at Ezra uneasily, before returning his attention to their unexpected visitor.

The man's mouth quirked, his face one of mild hospitality, "My name is Jasper Hakim, and I am the owner of this house. And you are...?"

Hadyn frowned, and found himself answering despite himself, "Hadyn Adelbrecht D'Allesio."

The man nodded, "A good name. Is there any particular reason you decided to rob my estate?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Hadyn shrugged, unapologetic, "Any reason why we shouldn't just walk off with the lyre? Besides it being your property?"